


Crucible Match

by Anthropasaurus



Series: Pussycat Dolls [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: All he wants is to be loved, But he's my baby and I'll protect him from anything, F/M, He's just a complicated person with a complicated past, He's the crazy cat lady in exo form, Iona is a pint-sized titan full of rage, She's beauty, She's grace, This is my little drabble I wrote when I first started making my fireteam, Z-9 is a shit, and to be smothered in cats, she'll punch you in the face
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 23:17:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthropasaurus/pseuds/Anthropasaurus
Summary: A bet is a bet, and Z-9 can't tell whether he's pissed or pleasantly intrigued that he lost.





	Crucible Match

**Author's Note:**

> Just a side note: the reason why the work is titled 'Pussycat Dolls' is because Z put it upon himself to name the fireteam. If it wasn't obvious, he has a thing for pop music from 2000-2010. Such a special little snowflake. lol Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Another side note: There is one character who slips into Russian when talking. Since I can't speak Russian, I put said dialogue in italics.

“Now that’s just not fair. Muscle Milk only has one kinderguardian with him. How did I get saddled with three?” Z-9 gestured from his feeble team over to Alik and his. “Mine look like they still have bits of dirt from their graves on them. This is hardly a fair fight.”

“Are you, how you say ‘chickening out,’ Z-9?”

“Perish the thought, Muscle Milk. But the odds aren’t exactly even. You only have one newbie.” He turned his attention to the short titan and looked her up and down. “I didn’t think ghosts resurrected titan’s that small. Are you sure you’re not supposed to be a warlock?” Z-9 held up his hand and pretended to squish the small titan between his thumb and forefinger. “I would suggest a hunter, but I do think there’s a height limit to that too.” His gears clicked and whirred in excitement as the titan in question threw him a withering glare. From the expression alone he could feel her murderous intent. _Good_. All that was left was rattling the other two and his team might just have a chance. But from their gear he could tell they were seasoned guardians. A simple taunt wouldn’t distract them. Before he could act, the buzzer sounded overhead. With a final look, the two teams parted and retreated to their starting areas.

“The loudmouth, he’s mine,” Iona snarled.

Alik looked down at his friend and chuckled. “Da.” He shouldered his weapon and tossed Iona her helmet. Z-9’s obvious taunt did exactly what Alik knew it would. From day one, he knew mentioning Iona’s height would guarantee their win. He saw every time he managed to drag her into the crucible. Each time a cocky hunter or conceited warlock mentioned her height that opponent died more times than any other on the opposing team; and knowing Z-9, he was sure to bring it up.

Iona grabbed her helmet and shoved it onto her head. Since she had become a guardian she had been thrust from one thing to another. Running for her life, training, scouting missions and even more training had taken up all of her time, and then some. She rarely had a moment to stop and think or question what she had become. What few moments she had were still filled with people telling her what to do, where to go, and what to think. At first she tried to fight it, but it proved futile. She learned over the months keeping her mouth shut and head down made her life infinitely easier. Each day she felt more and more of herself being chipped away and remodeled into the “perfect titan.” But the one thing that never seemed to wear away was her one major tick. She had been told time and time again that she was too short to be a guardian. Time and time again she proved each person wrong, usually with a fist to the face or a well placed bullet in the crucible. This exo was going to be no different.

 

 

“Hey! Useless! Take out Muscle Milk!” Z-9 snapped as he laid down cover fire for their cowardly titan to charge. Only the titan didn’t charge. He had hesitated, and in that hesitation the other team’s hunter took him out with one bullet to the head. “Dammit!”

The warlock’s spell missed its mark. Instead of knocking Alik over the edge like Z-9 had wanted, it hit Iona in the shoulder, and set her helmet on fire. She yanked it off her head and threw it at the warlock as she charged. He dodged the helmet but was not able to regain his footing. She used the opening to run up and empty the remainder of her clip into him. He dropped like a rag doll, Iona’s empty gun landing next to him. She snarled at Z-9, and lobbed one of her grenades in his direction.

“Can none of you fuckin’ fight?” He grabbed the other hunter and hightailed it back into the ruins of the city, the grenade exploding behind them. They were getting decimated. It seemed every other second one of the kinderguardians on his team was being killed. At first he thought preventing their sniper from hitting would have solved the problem. But he found their biggest concern was not the unseen sniper, but Muscle Milk and the pipsqueak of a titan. The two of them were like a sword and shield, and impossible to kill. At first when he saw the small tick in her jaw he thought his goading had gotten under her skin and would make her mess up. He was right in only one of those two things. He did in fact get under her skin, but what would have been foolish mistakes if made by others instead were tactics that downright scared the kinderguardians. Multiple times she charged head on into the thick of them, killing whoever was too slow to get out of her way. One would have thought the newbies would have learned the first few times she killed them point blank. But their stupid tactic was to huddle closer and hope for the best. Not once did it work out. She herded them closer and closer, until a single grenade took all three of them out.

“Quit fucking circling together like a bunch of fucking sheep! If you don’t start fighting back I will fucking kill you myself!” He kicked the hunter in the back, sending her scrambling forward. “Get out there! We don’t have much time left! I will not lose this bet because of you fucking idiots!”

 

Alik’s plan was working. He watched as Z-9’s temper caused his movements to become more erratic. “We have few minutes left. What is status of trap?”

“Last I checked they had the trip mines in place. All we need to do is herd them into Zone B.” Her last clip clicked into a place and an almost feral grin crept across Iona’s face. “Time to herd the sheep." 

The small nod of Alik’s head was the only indication he gave that he heard her, before he stepped off the ledge and walked into the middle of the street. Well placed shots from both him and Io had the three novice guardians scurrying back into the buildings. They left Z-9 to the hunter and the warlock, knowing the two of them would be able to handle the erratic exo.

 

“One minute left!” Shaxx’s voice echoed throughout the area.

 

Alik felt more than saw the change in Iona. Heat started to radiate off of her body and from the corner of his eye he could see the flames curling around her. He felt her power spike as they rounded the last corner. They had the three novices herded into Zone B, and were just waiting for their other teammates to herd Z-9. As if on cue, the hunter in question charged into the area guns blazing. He fired off several shots, hitting both Io and Alik. Before his shots could kill either, Alik erected a barricade and jumped out of the area.

“Fight back!” Z-9 loaded another clip into his hand cannon and looked at the three before them. There was not a scratch on them, but they acted as if they had seen death itself. That’s when he saw the trip mines. While Alik, Io, and the warlock had been wrecking havoc all over the arena, the hunter in question had been filling Zone B with enough trip mines to collapse the whole building. Before he could act, a hammer went whizzing past his head and killed the hunter behind him. One by one the rest of his team was killed off; their bodies throw back into the trip mine sensors. There was nowhere for him to escape. The last thing Z-9 saw before the building came crashing down was the smug look on Iona’s face as she threw her hammer at the remaining support beam. It was in that moment that he realized he may have fucked up. When he came to, the titan in question was nowhere to be found; only her path of destruction remained. As far as he was concerned if he never saw her again it would be too soon.

 

 

Z-9 found himself at the bar between Alik and Cornelius, going shot for shot with the two large humans. Friends and acquaintances trickled into the bar as night wore on. Halfway through the third bottle, he noticed the wink Cornelius gave Alik. 

“Wait a minute,” he hiccupped. “Cookie, you were in on this weren’t you?”

“My dear friend, whatever gave you that idea?”

“The wink!”

“The wink?”

“Yes! You gave him the wink; the wink that is filled with dastardly intentions. I’ve seen it before. But to think it was used against me. I thought we were friends Cookie.”

“I allow you to call me Cookie. Isn’t that proof enough?”

“To think my closest frie-”

“Only friend,” Cookie corrected.

“Only friend,” Z-9 amended. “Would do such a dastardly thing behind my back. I feel hurt...betrayed even. I don’t think I can recover from this.”

“Do not be such sore loser!” Alik clapped Z-9 on the back, sending the exo stumbling forward.

“Every time, Muscle Milk,” Z-9 grunted. “Gentle. I am a fragile baby boy.”

“ _You are no little boy_!” Alik laughed and slapped Z-9 on the back. “You are very funny! Drink! We celebrate my victory over your bet tonight!”

“At the expense of my wallet.” A bottle of vodka appeared in front of him. Without a second thought he tossed his card to the bartender, opened the bottle and clinked it against Alik’s.

“ _Cheers!_ ” The tipsy Russian chugged the last of his bottle and surveyed the room. He spotted a familiar mop of purple hair in the back of the bar and made a beeline. “Io!” Alik’s voice boomed.

She jumped and looked up as the giant Russian sat at her table. Iona had been in the bar for less than two minutes before he found her. “Alik.” She took the offered bottle and downed several large swallows before handing it back. The vodka burned her throat as a familiar tingle settled in her fingers. She felt her nerves calming and the bar no longer felt like an ogre trying to kill her. Now it just felt like a lowly thrall, gnawing on her ankle. _This I can handle_.

“You have made it! Come! Drink with us! Z-9 is buying!” He dragged her back to the bar and all but lifted her into the seat next to Z-9. “ _Barkeeper! Another drink for my friend_!”

 

Several drinks in Io slumped forward onto the bar and scrubbed her hand under her topknot. “Wait,” Io hiccupped. “What was the bet exactly? How drunk were you that you willingly made a bet against Alik?” 

“Short answer: I was sauced. Long answer: Muscle Milk just has this very Russian way of getting under my skin and he outdrank me.”

“But you’re an exo?” Confused she titled her head to the side, grabbed the bottle in front of Z and refilled his drink. She downed the rest of the bottle and dropped it onto the counter.

“Holy shit! I’m an exo? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Panicked, he ran his hands over his body as if it was something completely foreign. 

For a split second Io stared at Z before she threw back her head and started to laugh. She rubbed her hand over her freshly buzzed side as her laughter died down. “I can’t remember the last time I have laughed that much.”

Z-9 slid another drink over at her and chuckled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you need to laugh more. There’s no need to be so serious.”

“I’ve tried.” She downed half of her drink in one gulp. The burn of the drink had her gagging and gasping, much to Z-9’s amusement. “But you wouldn’t understand,” she choked. “You’re a hunter.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Curious he leaned closer to the drunk woman in front of him. The murderous woman from earlier that day had been replaced by the giggly woman that was having a difficult time staying on the barstool. Twice in the past ten minutes he had to catch her from sliding onto the ground. Luckily for him or her in this case, she had a habit of veering towards his direction.

Another snort escaped her as she downed the drink. “You know exactly what I mean, Z.” A hiccup escaped her as she slid closer. “All hunters are a little unhinged. It’s to be expected. But not titans. No...we...we must be the wall. Stoic. We are the last defense of this city. They wear you down, until the old you is no more, and make you up to be the perfect titan. I found it was easier to keep my head down and go along with what they wanted.”

“Is that why you’re so uptight?”

Her face scrunched up as she smacked him on the arm. “I’m not that uptight, am I?”

“Dimples, if you were any more tense I could shove coal up your ass and you’d shit out diamonds a week later.”

“Do you have any coal?”

Z-9 looked at her for a second before he chuckled and bumped his shoulder into hers. “What do you know, Dimples you can make a joke.”

“Oh I’m a very funny person,” she slurred.

“I do not doubt that, Dimples.” He reached over and grabbed the glass out of her loose fingers. He set it next to his empty one and looked down at the figure slumped against him. Every assumption he had for the pint-sized titan had been proven wrong as the drinks kept flowing. What was once a stony face soon became one that hid no emotions and every time she laughed Z-9 found himself drawn further and further into her. He wanted to hear more of that laugh. To see the way her nose crinkled when he told a bad pun or joke. If someone were to ask him why he felt the sudden desire, he couldn't say. That fact alone stirred a curiosity in him he hadn't felt in decades.

 

 

Several weeks passed before Z-9 saw any sign of Iona again. At first he thought she had been sent out on patrol. It took several bottles of vodka one night in the bar with Alik, before Z-9 found out where she had truly gone. To think an Iron Lord so thoroughly thrashed in the crucible was both a balm to his ego and a shock. He had thought Lord Saladin kept his new recruits hidden in the mountains. But what shocked him even more was seeing her in the hanger the next morning.

“M’lady returns.” He set the butt of his rifle on the ground and executed an overly dramatic bow. “Are you to accompany us on this fine day?” A swift smack to the back of the head, by Cornelius’ hand sent him stumbling forward.

“She is the newest member of your fire team.”

“What? Her? There’s no way.”

“Don’t act so excited, you might break something.”

He searched her face, trying to find the drunken girl from the bar. All he found was another stony faced titan. As he looked away he thought he saw a twitch of her lips in the corner of her eye. When he looked back, he saw no sign of the mirth he thought he was going to see. “Damn.”

“She passed the test.”

“Test? What test?”

Cornelius’ voice drew Z-9’s attention away from Iona’s face. “You were the test.”

“Me? How am I a test? Does this have anything to do with Serenity-12? She was always looking for reasons to shoot me.”

“It does. I needed to find a titan that wouldn’t snap every time you angered them, which as we both know will be a lot.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am a delight.”

“Delightfully annoying,” Iona muttered under her breath.

She had thought no one could hear her, over the noise of the hanger. None would, if there had not been an exo among them. But he heard. His hope and curiosity were brought back to life once again. _There she is_. She was in there. He just needed to find a crack in the wall and slip through. Lucky for him, he’s a hunter.

 


End file.
